Dear readers,
Many of you who have read Making Mary by Dedra Muhammad do not consider yourselves "Lee lovers." This is interesting because he is a prototype of the typical modern male, especially those males who have been abusive emotionally or otherwise in relationships. I would like to hear from any of you who are Lee lovers.. Lee is an abuser---or rather, he was an abuser. I contend that every man has the potential to engage in physical altercations due to his "warrior" nature. Do you think, if given the opportunity, Lee would continue his violence? Or did he grow into a "man" and realize the errors of his ways. The next issue is, given the circumstances surrounding his physical altercations with Vivian, do you feel that she "drove him to it?" I am sure it's hard for you to tell, but most victims would like to believe that he finally grew into a man. I developed his character in a way designed to make the reader love him anyway. I want the reader to love him despte his faults, as many of the characters have a whole slew of faults. Who can really throw stones at Lee? Certainly not Henry. Women easily fall in love with men like Lee, because he is a "bad boy" and women seem to like bad boys, right?
Some may argue that Lee truly wasn't a bad boy, but one thing is for certain, he and Vivian were from two different thinking planes of the planet. Lee was used to getting what he wanted, and too he was emotionally frail. YES!!!! As hard to imagine as that may be for those who are not in tune or do not understand the sensitive side of the male, he was not "permitted" to show his feminine side, which caused a great sea of frustration in his life. He had many pacifiers to take his mind and heart away from issues and things he felt poerless to overcome. All of this baggage shaped his communication efforts as well as his manner of approaching difficult situations. In this sense, he wasn't really a bad boy, he was just misguided.
But remember how Vivian and Lee met? He definitely was sincere. Even as Maybelle lurked in the wings, Lee wanted to marry a princess, which he thought he had in Vivian. So, whatever his relationship with Maybelle, she was not a princess in Lee's eyes. And why is that? See, that is what needs to be explored through and through!
And could Vivian really handle a man like Lee, or do you want to twist that thing around and ask whether or not Lee could really handle a girl like Vivian? I would venture to ask if Lee could really handle a girl like Vivian because Lee was "the man" yet Vivian was just an inexperienced girl, so it is expected that Lee should have been able to handle her. Then, what happened? Well, what "happened" had already happened before Lee even met Vivian, only neither of them understood this. When they both played the blame game, the real issues were hidden, and thus couldn't appropriately be addressed in a way that could benefit their relationship.
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